Totally no big deal if you’ve got better stuff to do, but if you wanna read about “Powertrain,” SRAM’s first-ever E-MTB motor, Travis wrote this post. Like, he didn’t ride it or anything, but it’s big news, and we figured you might want to know about it. He talks about stuff like the different modes and how the buttons work and a thing about auto-shifting. No rush, though. The post will just be sitting here. So if on, like, Friday night you’re, like “Oh yeah, that SRAM e-bike thing…” and you haven’t read Pinkbike’s review or whatever, just come on back. But again, not a huge deal if it slips your mind…
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Reportage
Lightfooted and Fancy: A Review and Debut of the New No. 22 Bicycle Company Drifter Adventure Gravel Road Bike
There’s no shortage of drop-bar, dirt-oriented, MUSA titanium frames to choose from these days. Yet, one company’s consistently impressive designs continue to stand out in this somewhat crowded market: No. 22. John got his hands on the latest member of No. 22’s Drifter family, the Drifter Adventure, which became his “get into shape” bike this spring and summer. After logging miles on his favorite loop in Santa Fe, he’s ready to discuss what makes No. 22 and this new Drifter Adventure so special.
Read on for a fat gallery full of details and scenery, and his review…
Radar
Radar Roundup: Shovel Research Light Mounts, SRAM $108 Level Bronze Stealth 2-Piston Brakes, VO Polyvalent in Stock, Skratch Clear, Kokopelli Raft Bikerafting Kit, Neko Mulally on Steel, and Luce Operations: Volume 1
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
Radar
Developing Story: SRAM’s Book About Transmission Will Make You Fall in Love with the Bike Industry Again
When you review bike products, sometimes they arrive with some swag. T-shirt, stickers, sure. But sometimes there’s a cool memento, like an Abbey Tool laser-etched by whatever brand has partnered up with them for the launch. Or an artifact from the product’s manufacturing and development, like a piece of the innovative raw material that made it possible. But what came with my GX Transmission kit is by far the most moving party favor I’ve ever received.
Radar
A Fast Trickle: SRAM GX Transmission Groupset First-Ride Review
At the time of publishing this, the ink is still drying on our first-impressions of SRAM‘s debut boat-rocking direct-mount, electronic-shifting drivetrain concept, dubbed “Transmission.” Ever since, it’s been hard to get into a conversation with a bike nerd without Transmission coming up. Travis Engel is one of those nerds who can’t stop talking about it, so he was the perfect person to cover the surprise addition of a lower-priced GX group, which launched today. Read on to see what changed, what didn’t, and why this is such good news.
Radar
SRAM Apex 1×12 AXS XPLR and Eagle Electronic and Mechanical Groupsets
If you are like me in assuming that SRAM has moved on to more technologically advanced projects and left those of us wanting native mechanical dropbar 12-speed functionality in Transmisson’s dust, then today’s news oughta be pretty exciting. SRAM has just announced that they will be releasing an Apex-level AXS XPLR and Eagle wireless electronic shifting groupset alongside Apex XPLR and Eagle mechanical 12-speed drivetrains. Below, Josh Weinberg offers a detailed look at the new components after testing them for a couple of days in the Driftless region of northwest Illinois…
Radar
Radar Roundup: Livestock x Adidas Consortium Velosamba, Black Magic for SRAM x ENVE, Search and State Chainstitched Merino, State Bicycle Co x Taco Bell, and LA Invitational Registration
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
Radar
First Ride Review: SRAM’s New Eagle Transmission and Stealth Brake Collection
After months of leaks, spottings, and speculation, SRAM unveiled their newest wireless mountain groupset, Eagle Transmission, along with a collection of Stealth Brakes. This hefty product launch encompasses derailleurs, cranksets, cassettes, shift controllers, and more across XX SL Eagle, XX Eagle, and XO Eagle levels along with power meter and e-bike-specific components. SRAM also released an all-new Stealth lever body for their Level and Code brake lineup. As such there’s a lot to unpack here, which we expect to dive deeper into during the next few months of Transmission-equipped bike reviews. Today, however, let’s take a look at product highlights and some initial thoughts about these new components after a few rides on a Santa Cruz Megatower test bike that SRAM sent us a couple of weeks ago.
Radar
Radar Roundup: Superstore Wilderness, Wizard Works Fundraiser for NZ Cyclone, Fairlight Faran 2.5, Force AXS Updates, and Ripton Bike Pants
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
Reportage
Sklar Sweet Spot Review: Josh’s Mash-Up Sweet Jammer
The Sweet Spot from Bozeman, MT-based Sklar Bikes is a steel hardtail mountain bike designed to be a venerable quiver-killer. Built around 150mm of front suspension, with clearance for up to 29 x 2.8 tires, its geometry embraces builder Adam Sklar’s mantra of “fast is fun, but fun is fun-er.” Sweet Spots were Adam’s first foray into offering a small batch frame design and sizing, which he hopes will make his bikes more accessible and faster to produce.
I picked up a Sweet Spot of my own earlier this spring after many years of searching for the perfect hardtail. Due to a few requests I had to make it even sweeter, it turned into a custom project that retained the established Sweet Spot geometry and material selection. Below, let’s take a closer look at my build in addition to a brief interview with Adam about these bikes and his design/build process!
Radar
Radar Roundup: 100 Hour Garmin, 1×13 Campy Ratio Kit, Duzer Loves the Monumental Loop, and Bikepacking the Greenbrier River Trail
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
Radar
Introducing the 2022 Bespoked SRAM Inclusivity Scholarship
Having been a regular exhibitor since 2014, I’m super excited to be running Bespoked for the first time this year. Bespoked is arguably one of the most fun and interesting bike shows on the planet because it centers on handmade bikes and their builders. Bikes designed and built around an individual and their use case scenario as they see it are always going to be fertile ground for discourse, throw in a huge number of capable and dedicated individuals ready to make that magic happen over and over again and you have yourself the makings of a fun weekend.
Radar
Radar Roundup: Win $20k from Old Man Mountain, 8-Bit, Simply Enough, Tiger and Wolf Jerseys, Southwest Swift, and We Have a Winner!
Our Radar Roundup compiles products and videos from the ‘net in an easy-to-digest format. Read on below for today’s findings…
Reportage
2021 Philly Bike Expo: Frontier Bikes’ Super Aero Hella Tukt Gravlosuit Bike
Maybe you’ve been there — you’re sitting at a buffet, you’ve overloaded your plate, and you’re thinking “what am I going to do now?” Well, Beth Morford of Frontier Bikes has a voracious appetite for work and her plates have been pretty full balancing Olympic level massage with bike shop ownership for some tome now. More recently, she’s added in frame building to her repertoire and managed to put this singlespeed gravel time trial bike together just in the nick of time to be displayed as part of SRAM’s Inclusivity Scholarship Program this year at Philly Bike Expo
Radar
L39ion Into the Lion’s Den
L39ion of Los Angeles has a vision for the future of crit racing, and they put on a showcase in the first Into the Lion’s Den race. SRAM had to be there, of course. In this first episode of SRAMtv, they bring us behind the scenes of an incredible weekend in Sacramento, as host, Jen Whalen chats with members of the peloton and takes you inside the race. Big primes, loud jerseys, and equal prize purses: Into the Lion’s Den is crit racing and L39ion at their best. Can you feel it?
Reportage
2021 Philly Bike Expo: People’s Choice Winner Jacqueline Mautner Untitled Cycles
2021 brought about the return of the Philly Bike Expo after a year-long hiatus due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. We’ve got a lot of coverage on the way sporadically, thanks to Jarrod Bunk of Hope Cyclery but we really want to share the People’s Choice Winner: Jaqueline Mautner from Untitled Cycles‘ Sophie Taeuber-Arp homage gravel bike with SRAM AXS EXPLR, so read on below for a synopsis of this project by Jacqueline Mautner and plenty of beautiful compositions by Jarrod!
Reportage
Sami’s Fading Megamo Track Full Suspension MTB
I remember this day like it was yesterday. I had a big meltdown, mentally I was not in the right place. I had spent all day at home and there was only a short amount of time that the government was allowing us to leave the house for sports activities in the afternoon.
It was the 4th of May 2020. I planned a route very meticulously as I wanted to get the best views of the sunset. So, I packed some of my bags and of course remembered a hip bag with my camera and a few lenses, got my MTB ready, checked it and put some oil on the chain, removed the front wheel so it would fit in the elevator, and opened the door to a new adventure…
Reportage
Squid Bikes Took their Gravtron Gravel Bikes from Reno to Sacramento
Today we’ve got a special bit of Reportage from the crew at Squid Bikes showcasing their new handmade in Taiwan steel gravel model, the Gravtron. Read on below for a look at the owners’, Chris and Emily, personal Gravtron builds as well as a friend Nick’s bike loaded down for a trip from Reno to Sacramento with a trip report by Emily. Check it out below!